1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic cutter positioning device in the slitting portion of a slitter line for cutting of plates of steel, aluminum, copper, or their alloys into longitudinal strips.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, in the prior method of cutting, the distances between cutters in the slitter assembly of the conventional slitting line are first determined according to cutting factors of the work, such as width, plate thickness, materials, etc., then, to realize these distances, cutters and spacers of required dimensions are inserted in the shaft one after the other, and upper and lower cutter assemblies are thus formed. Whenever one or more of the factors is to be altered, the cutters and spacers must be disassembled and reassembled. Besides, due to the great number of combinations of cutting widths and number of strips to be cut, the required number of spacers increases more and more and much labor and expense are needed for their inventory control. It is foreseeable that when cutting factors such as the cutting width, strip number, etc., are different for each coil, it will become a problem that the reassembly of cutters and spacers will not be finished in time during the cutting of the preceeding coil as the coils are cut at higher speeds in the future. Also, it is desirable that preparatory stands which are conventionally used for interchange of cutters of a slitter be eliminated because of the problem of their factory management.